Talk:History of South America/sandbox

The history of South America is the study of the past, particularly the written record, of the continent of South America, but also oral histories and traditions passed down from generation to generation. South America has a history that covers a wide range of cultures and civilisations. Millennia of independent developments were interrupted by the arrival of Portuguese and Spanish conquerors and subsequent push to colonise the continent in the late 15th century. Despite this upheaval and the demographic collapse that followed, the continent's mestizo and indigenous cultures today remain quite distinct from those of their colonisers.

Through the trans-Atlantic

In the

The Amazonian rainforest likely formed during the Eocene era. It appeared following a global reduction of tropical temperatures when the Atlantic Ocean had widened sufficiently to provide a warm, moist climate to the Amazon basin. The rainforest has been in existence for at least 55 million years, and most of the region remained free of savanna-type biomes at least until the current ice age, when the climate was drier and savanna more widespread.^{[4][5] [6]} However, the rainforest still managed to thrive during these glacial periods, allowing for the survival and evolution of a broad diversity of species.^[7]

Human activity

Based on archaeological evidence from an excavation at Caverna da Pedra Pintada, human inhabitants first settled in the Amazon region at least 11,200 years ago.^[8] Subsequent human development led to late-prehistoric settlements along the periphery of the forest that caused alterations in the forest cover by 1250 CE.^[9]

For a long time it was thought that the Amazon rainforest was only ever sparsely populated, as it was impossible to sustain a large population through

The Marajó culture was a pre-Columbian society that flourished on Marajó Island at the mouth of the Amazon River. In a survey, Mann suggests dates between 800 CE and 1400 CE for the culture.^[14] Nevertheless, some human activity as early as 1000 BCE has been documented at these sites. The culture seems to persist into the colonial era.^[15] Sophisticated pottery–large, and elaborately painted and incised with representations of plants and animals–the most impressive finding in the area, provided the first evidence of a complex society on Marajó. Evidence of mound building further suggests that well-populated and sophisticated settlements emerged on the island.^[16] However, the extent, level of complexity, and resource interactions of the Marajoara culture are disputed. Working in the 1950s, Meggers suggests that the society migrated from the Andes and settled on the island. In the 1980s, Anna Curtenius Roosevelt led excavations and geophysical surveys of the mound Teso dos Bichos, and concluded that the society that constructed the mounds originated on the island itself.^[17] The pre-Columbian culture of Marajó may have developed social stratification and supported a population of 100,000 people.^[14] The Native Americans of the Amazon rainforest may have used Terra preta to make the land suitable for the large-scale agriculture needed to support large populations and complex social formations such as chiefdoms.^[14]

By 1900 the population had fallen to 1 million, and by the early 1980s it was less than 200,000.

Unnatural Histories presented evidence that Orellana, rather than exaggerating his claims as previously thought, was correct in his observations that a complex civilisation was flourishing along the Amazon in the 1540s. It is believed that the civilization was later devastated by the spread of diseases from Europe such as smallpox.^{[12][13][19][20]}

Since the 1970s, numerous geoglyphs have been discovered on deforested land dating between 0–1250 CE, furthering claims about Pre-Columbian civilizations.^[21][22] Ondemar Dias is credited with the first discovery of geoglyphs in 1977 and Alceu Ranzi with furthering their discovery after flying over Acre.^[19][23] The BBC's Unnatural Histories presented evidence that the Amazon rainforest, rather than being a pristine wilderness, has been shaped by man for at least 11,000 years through practices such as forest gardening and terra preta.^[19]

Terra preta (black earth), which is distributed over large areas in the Amazon forest, is evidence of many years of soil management by Indigenous Native American Peoples. The development of this fertile soil allowed agriculture and silviculture in the previously hostile environment; meaning that large portions of the Amazon rainforest are probably the result of centuries of human management, rather than naturally occurring as has previously been supposed.^{[note 2][28]} In the region of the Xingu tribe, remains of some of these large settlements in the middle of the Amazon forest were found in 2003 by Michael Heckenberger and colleagues of the University of Florida. Among those were evidence of roads, bridges and large plazas.^[29]

Many pre-Columbian civilizations established characteristics and hallmarks which included permanent or urban settlements, agriculture, civic and monumental architecture, and

According to both indigenous American and European accounts and documents, American civilisations at the time of European encounter had accomplished significant achievements.[33] For instance, the Aztecs built one of the largest cities in the world, Tenochtitlan, the ancient site of Mexico City, with an estimated population of 200,000. American civilizations also displayed impressive accomplishments in astronomy and mathematics. The domestication of maize or corn required thousands of years of selective breeding.

Inuit, Alaskan Native, and American Indian creation myths describe a variety of origins of their respective peoples. Some were "always there" or were created by gods or animals, some migrated from a specified compass point, and others came from "across the ocean".^[35] Research into the original

Another study, focused on the mtDNA (that which is inherited only through the maternal line),^[37] revealed that the maternal ancestry of the indigenous people of the Americas can be traced back to a few founding lineages from East Asia, which would have arrived via the Bering Strait. According to this study, it is probable that the ancestors of the Native Americans would have remained for a time in the region of the Bering Strait, after which there would have been a rapid settling of the Americas, taking the founding lineages to South America.

Linguistic studies have backed up genetic studies, with ancient patterns having been found between the languages spoken in Siberia and those spoken in the Americas.^[37]

Two 2015 autosomal DNA genetic studies confirmed the Siberian origins of the native peoples of the Americas. However, an ancient signal of shared ancestry with the natives of Australia and Melanesia was detected among the natives of the Amazon region. The migration coming out of Siberia would have happened 23,000 years ago.^[38][39]

Archaeology

One of the earliest human remains found in the Americas, Luzia Woman, were found in the area of Pedro Leopoldo, Minas Gerais, Brazil, providing evidence of human habitation going back at least 11,000 years.^[42][43] The earliest pottery ever found in the Western Hemisphere was excavated in the Amazon basin of Brazil and radiocarbon dated to 8,000 years ago (6,000 BCE). The pottery was found near Santarém and provides evidence that the tropical forest region supported a complex prehistoric culture.^[44]

Asian nomads are thought to have entered the

The chronology of migration models is currently divided into two general approaches. The first is the short chronology theory with the first movement beyond Alaska into the New World occurring no earlier than 14,000–17,000 years ago, followed by successive waves of immigrants.^{[48][49][50][51]} The second theory is the long chronology theory, which proposes that the first group of people entered the hemisphere at a much earlier date, possibly 50,000–40,000 years ago or earlier.^{[52][53][54][55]}

Artefacts have been found in both North and South America which have been dated to 14,000 BP,^[56] and humans are thought to have reached Cape Horn at the southern tip of South America by this time. The Inuit and related peoples arrived separately and at a much later date, probably during the first millennium CE, moving across the ice from Siberia into Alaska.

A 2007 paper published in PNAS put forward DNA and archaeological evidence that domesticated chickens had been introduced into South America via Polynesia by late pre-Columbian times.^[61] These findings were challenged by a later study published in the same journal, that cast doubt on the dating calibration used and presented alternative mtDNA analyses that disagreed with a Polynesian genetic origin.^[62] The origin and dating remains an open issue. Whether or not early Polynesian–American exchanges occurred, no compelling human-genetic, archaeological, cultural or linguistic legacy of such contact has turned up.

Terra preta (black earth), which is distributed over large areas in the Amazon forest, is evidence of the practice of soil management over many centuries by indigenous South American peoples. The development of this fertile soil allowed agriculture and silviculture in the previously agriculturally unsuitable environment; meaning that large portions of the Amazon rainforest are probably the result of centuries of human management, rather than naturally occurring as was previously supposed.^{[note 2]} In the region of the Xingu tribe, remains of some of these large settlements in the middle of the Amazon forest were found in 2003 by Michael Heckenberger and colleagues of the University of Florida. Among them were evidence of roads, bridges and large plazas.^[29]

Agricultural development & domestication of animals

South American cultures began domesticating llamas and alpacas in the highlands of the Andes c. 3,500 BCE. These animals were used for both transportation and meat.[64] Guinea pigs were also domesticated as a food source at this time.^[65]

By 2000 BCE, many agrarian village communities had been settled throughout the Andes and the surrounding regions. Fishing became a widespread practice along the coast which helped to establish fish as a primary source of food. Irrigation systems were also developed at this time, which aided in the rise of an agrarian society.

By the 15th century, maize had been transmitted from Mexico and was being farmed in the Mississippi embayment, as far as the East Coast of the United States, and as far north as southern Canada. Potatoes were utilised by the Inca, and chocolate was used by the Aztecs.

Native South American Peoples

Cañaris

The Cañaris were the indigenous natives of today's Ecuadorian provinces of Cañar and Azuay. They were an elaborate civilisation with advanced architecture and religious belief. Most of their remains were either burned or destroyed from attacks by the Inca and later the Spaniards. Their old city "Guapondelig", was replaced twice, first by the Incan city of Tomipamba, and later by the Colonial city of Cuenca.^[68] The city was also believed to be the site of El Dorado, the city of gold from the mythology of Colombia. The Cañaris were most notable to have repelled the Incan invasion with fierce resistance for many years until they fell to Tupac Yupanqui. It is said that the Inca strategically married the cañari princes Paccha to conquer the Cañaris.

Chibchas

The Chibcha linguistic communities were the most numerous, the most territorially extended and the most socio-economically developed of the Pre-Hispanic Colombian cultures. By the 3rd century CE, the Chibchas had established their civilisation in the northern Andes. At one point, the Chibchas occupied part of what is now Panama and the high plains of the Eastern Sierra of Colombia.

Amazonian peoples

Chachapoyas

The Chachapoyas, also called the Warriors of the Clouds, was a culture of

The Chachapoyas were devastated by the 18th century and remain as a strain within general indigenous ethnicity in modern Peru. The Chachapoyas' territory was located in the northern regions of the Andes in present-day Peru. It encompassed the triangular region formed by the confluence of the

The contemporary Peruvian city of Chachapoyas derives its name from the word for this ancient culture as does the defined architectural style. Garcilaso de la Vega noted that the Chachapoyas territory was so extensive that:^{[Note 1]}

The area of the Chachapoyas is sometimes referred to as the Amazonian Andes, due to it being part of a mountain range covered by dense tropical forest. The Amazonian Andes constitute the eastern flank of the Andes, which were once covered by dense Amazon vegetation. The region extended from the cordillera spurs up to altitudes where primary forests still stand, usually above 3,500 metres (11,500 feet). The cultural realm of the Amazonian Andes occupied land situated between 2,000 and 3,000 metres (6,600 and 9,800 feet) altitude.

Tapirapé

The

Wagley conjectures that the Tapirapé descend from the Tupinamba, who populated part of the coast of Brazil in 1500, since both tribes speak the same Tupi language. As the conquerors expanded their dominion, the theory goes, some Tupinamba would have fled inland, eventually arriving at a large segment of tropical forest 11 degrees latitude South of the equator, close to affluents of the Amazon river. By 1900, there were five Tapirapé villages with a population of about 1500, extended through a large area between 50 and 51 degrees longitude.

Andean civilisations

Caral Supe

Caral, or Caral-Supe, was a large settlement in the Supe Valley, near Supe,

The oldest civilisation present on the north coast of

"Early Chimú cemeteries are also found without pyramid associations. Burials are usually in extended positions, in prepared tombs. The rectangular, adobe-lined and covered tombs have niches in their walls in which bowls were placed." (39)[74] The Early pottery is also characterised by realistic modeling and painted scenes.^[74]

Tiwanaku

The inhabitants of

The name by which Tiwanaku was known to its inhabitants may have been lost as they had no written language.[76]^[77] The Puquina language has been pointed out as the most likely language of the ancient inhabitants of Tiwanaku.^[78]

Inca Civilisation

Population

There is some debate about the number of people inhabiting Tawantinsuyu at its peak, with estimates ranging from as few as 4 million people, to more than 37 million. The reason for these various estimates is that in spite of the fact that the Inca kept excellent census records using their quipu, knowledge of how to read them has been lost, and almost all of them had been destroyed by the Spaniards in the course of their conquest.^[79]

Arawak and Carib civilisations

The

See also:

Swedish colonisation

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Initially, European activity consisted mostly of trade and exploration. Eventually Europeans began to

Settlement by the Spanish started the

Early explorations and conquests were made by the Spanish and the Portuguese immediately following their own final reconquest of Iberia in 1492. In the 1494 Treaty of Tordesillas, ratified by the Pope, these two kingdoms divided the entire non-European world into two areas of exploration and colonisation, with a north to south boundary that cut through the Atlantic Ocean and the eastern part of present-day Brazil. Based on this treaty and on early claims by Spanish explorer Vasco Núñez de Balboa, discoverer of the Pacific Ocean in 1513, the Spanish conquered large territories in North, Central and South America.

Through the Treaty of Tordesillas Portugal and Spain agreed that all the land outside Europe should be an exclusive duopoly between the two countries. The treaty established an imaginary along a north-south meridian 370 leagues west of Cape Verde Islands, roughly 46° 37' W. In terms of the treaty, all land to the west of the line (which is now known to include most of the South American soil), would belong to Spain, and all land to the east, to Portugal. Because accurate measurements of longitude were not possible at that time, the line was not strictly enforced, resulting in a Portuguese expansion of Brazil across the meridian.divided the newly discovered lands outside Europe between Portugal and the Crown of Castile, along a meridian 370 leagues^{[Note 2]} west of the Cape Verde islands, off the west coast of Africa. This line of demarcation was about halfway between the Cape Verde islands (already Portuguese) and the islands entered by Christopher Columbus on his first voyage (claimed for Castile and León), named in the treaty as Cipangu and Antilia (Cuba and Hispaniola).

Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés took over the Aztec Kingdom and Francisco Pizarro conquered the Inca Empire. As a result, by the mid-16th century, the Spanish Crown had gained control of much of western South America, Central America and southern North America, in addition to its earlier Caribbean territories. Over this same timeframe, Portugal claimed lands in North America (Canada) and colonised much of eastern South America, naming it Santa Cruz and Brazil.

Other

Population overview

Given the fragmentary nature of the evidence, even semi-accurate pre-Columbian population figures are impossible to obtain. Scholars have varied widely on the estimated size of the indigenous populations prior to colonisation and on the effects of European contact.^[93] Estimates are made by extrapolations from small bits of data. In 1976, geographer William Denevan used the existing estimates to derive a "consensus count" of about 54 million people. Nonetheless, more recent estimates still range widely.^[89][90]

Using an estimate of approximately 37 million people in 1492 (including 6 million in the Aztec Empire, 8 million in the Mayan States, 11 million in what is now Brazil, and 12 million in the Inca Empire), the lowest estimates give a death toll due from disease of 90% by the end of the 17th century (nine million people in 1650).^[89] Latin America would match its 15th-century population early in the 19th century; it numbered 17 million in 1800, 30 million in 1850, 61 million in 1900, 105 million in 1930, 218 million in 1960, 361 million in 1980, and 563 million in 2005.^[89] In the last three decades of the 16th century, the population of present-day Mexico dropped to about one million people.^[89] The Maya population is today estimated at six million, which is about the same as at the end of the 15th century, according to some estimates.^[89] In what is now Brazil, the indigenous population declined from a pre-Columbian high of an estimated four million to some 300,000.^[89]

Around the time of the Portuguese arrival, the territory of current day Brazil alone had an estimated indigenous population of 11 million people,

Before the arrival of Europeans, the boundaries between these groups and their subgroups were marked by wars that arose from differences in culture, language and moral beliefs.[96] These wars also involved large-scale military actions on land and water, with cannibalistic rituals on prisoners of war.^[97][98] While heredity had some weight, leadership status was more subdued over time, than allocated in succession ceremonies and conventions.^[99] Slavery among the Indians had a different meaning than it had for Europeans, since it originated from a diverse socio-economic organization, in which asymmetries were translated into kinship relations.^[100]

In 1498, during his third voyage to the Americas,

Beginning in 1499, the people and natural resources of South America were repeatedly exploited by foreign conquistadors, first from Spain and later from Portugal. These competing colonial nations claimed the land and resources as their own and divided it into colonies.^{[102][note 7]}

European diseases and indigenous population loss

Measles caused many deaths. The smallpox epidemics are believed to have caused the largest death tolls among Native Americans, surpassing any wars^[105] and far exceeding the comparative loss of life in Europe due to the Black Death.^[106] Epidemics of smallpox (1518, 1521, 1525, 1558, 1589), typhus (1546), influenza (1558), diphtheria (1614) and measles (1618) swept the Americas subsequent to European contact,^[107][108] killing between 10 million and 100 million^[109] people, estimated upwards of 90–95 percent of the indigenous population of the Americas died in these epidemics within the first 100–150 years following 1492. Many regions in the Americas lost 100%.^[103][110] Similarly, yellow fever is thought to have been brought to the Americas from Africa via the Atlantic slave trade. Because it was endemic in Africa, many people there had acquired immunity. Europeans suffered higher rates of death than did African-descended persons when exposed to yellow fever in Africa and the Americas, where numerous epidemics swept the colonies beginning in the 17th century and continuing into the late 19th century. Debate on the origins of has been raging for centuries. New genetic evidence supports the theory that Christopher Columbus brought syphilis to Europe from the New World. According to the study, genetic analysis of the syphilis family tree reveals that its closest relative was a South American disease that causes yaws, an infection caused by a sub-species of the same bacterium. ^[111]

Together smallpox, influenza, measles, typhus and syphilis were by far the overwhelming cause of the depopulation of the Native American population.^[110][112] Cruel systems of forced labour (such as encomiendas and mining industry's mita) under Spanish control also contributed to further depopulation. Following this, African slaves, who had developed immunity to these diseases, were quickly brought in to replace them, unfortunately bringing with them yellow fever from Africa.

Religious conversion

The Spaniards were committed to

Slavery in South America was practiced in

During the

After the gradual emancipation of most black slaves, slavery continued along the Pacific coast of South America throughout the 19th century, as Peruvian slave traders kidnapped Polynesians, primarily from the Marquesas Islands and Easter Island and forced them to perform physical labour in mines and in the guano industry of Peru and Chile.

Malê in Brazil, produced one of the greatest slave revolts in the Americas, when in 1835 they tried to take the control of

Many Africans brought to Brazil in slavery belonged to two major groups: the West African and the Bantu people.

The West African people (previously known as Sudanese, and without connection with

Invasive species of plants and pathogens also were introduced by chance, including such weeds as tumbleweeds (Salsola spp.) and wild oats (Avena fatua). ^[116][117]

Although probably an unintentional stowaway, a very beneficial introduction to Europe was Saccharomyces eubayanus, the wild yeast responsible for lager beer now thought to have originated in Patagonia.^[118]

17th & 18th centuries

In 1616, the Dutch, attracted by the legend of El Dorado, founded a fort in Guayana and established three colonies: Demerara, Berbice, and Essequibo.^{[citation needed]}

In 1624 France attempted to settle in the area of modern-day French Guiana, but was forced to abandon it in the face of hostility from the Portuguese, who viewed it as a violation of the Treaty of Tordesillas. However French settlers returned in 1630 and in 1643 managed to establish a settlement at Cayenne along with some small-scale plantations.^{[citation needed]}

Since the sixteenth century there were some movements of discontent to Spanish and Portuguese colonial system. Among these movements, the most famous being that of the

Benkos Bioho.

Brazil saw the formation of a genuine African kingdom on their soil, with the

Tensions between Portuguese and Brazilians increased, and the Portuguese Cortes, guided by the new political regime imposed by the 1820 Liberal Revolution, tried to re-establish Brazil as a colony.^[129] The Brazilians refused to yield, and Prince Pedro decided to stand with them, declaring the country's independence from Portugal on 7 September 1822.^[130] A month later, Prince Pedro was declared the first Emperor of Brazil, with the regnal title of Dom Pedro I, resulting in the foundation of the Empire of Brazil.^[131]

The

As the new Emperor could not exert his constitutional powers until he became of age, a

Guyana was first a Dutch, and then a British colony, and there was a brief period during the Napoleonic Wars when it was colonised by the French.^{[citation needed]} The country was once partitioned into three parts, each being controlled by one of the colonial powers until the country was finally taken over fully by the British.^{[citation needed]}

Remaining nineteenth-century European colonies

A few countries did not gain independence until the 20th century:

• Panama, from Colombia, in 1903^[143]
• Trinidad and Tobago, from the United Kingdom, in 1962^[144]
• Guyana, from the United Kingdom, in 1966^[145]
• Suriname, from the Dutch control, in 1975^[146][147]
• French Guiana still remains as an overseas department of France.^{[148][149][note 10][note 11]}

20th century

The Great Depression posed a great challenge to the region. The collapse of the world economy meant that the demand for raw materials drastically declined, undermining many of the economies of South America.

Intellectuals and government leaders in South America turned their backs on the older economic policies and turned toward import substitution industrialization. The goal was to create self-sufficient economies, which would have their own industrial sectors and large middle classes and which would be immune to the ups and downs of the global economy. Despite the potential threats to United States commercial interests, the Roosevelt administration (1933–1945) understood that the United States could not wholly oppose import substitution. Roosevelt implemented a good neighbour policy and allowed the nationalization of some American companies in South America. Mexican President Lázaro Cárdenas nationalised American oil companies, out of which he created Pemex. Cárdenas also oversaw the redistribution of a quantity of land, fulfilling the hopes of many since the start of the Mexican Revolution. The Platt Amendment was also repealed, freeing Cuba from legal and official interference of the United States in its politics. The Second World War also brought the United States and most Latin American nations together.

The history of South America during World War II is important because of the significant economic, political, and military changes that occurred throughout much of the region as a result of the war. In order to better protect the Panama Canal, combat Axis influence, and optimize the production of goods for the war effort, the United States through Lend-Lease and similar programs greatly expanded its interests in Latin America, resulting in large-scale modernization and a major economic boost for the countries that participated.^[151]

Strategically, Panama was the most important Latin American nation for the Allies because of the Panama Canal, which provided a link between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans that was vital to both commerce and defense. Brazil was also of great importance because of its having the closest point in the Americas to Africa where the Allies were actively engaged in fighting the Germans and Italians. For the Axis, the Southern Cone nations of Argentina and Chile were where they found most of their support, and they utilised it to the fullest by interfering with internal affairs, conducting espionage, and distributing propaganda.^{[151][152][153]}

Brazil was the only country to send an

The Brazilian active participation on the battle field in Europe was divined after the

According to author Thomas M. Leonard, World War II had a major impact on Latin American economies. Following the December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, most of Latin America either severed relations with the Axis powers or declared war on them. As a result, many nations (including all of Central America, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Argentina, and Venezuela) suddenly found that they were now dependent on the United States for trade. The United States' high demand for particular products and commodities during the war further distorted trade. For example, the United States wanted all of the platinum produced in Colombia, all of Chile's copper, and all of Peru's cotton. The parties agreed upon set prices, often with a high premium, but the various nations lost their ability to bargain and trade in the open market.

Cold War

Wars became less frequent in the 20th century, with Bolivia-Paraguay and Peru-Ecuador fighting the last inter-state wars. Early in the 20th century, the

Several socialist and communist insurgencies broke out in Latin America throughout the entire twentieth century, but the most successful one was in Cuba. The Cuban Revolution was led by Fidel Castro against the regime of Fulgencio Batista, who since 1933 was the principal autocrat in Cuba. Since the 1860s the Cuban economy had focused on the cultivation of sugar, of which 82% was sold in the American market by the twentieth century. Despite the repeal of the Platt Amendment, the United States still had considerable influence in Cuba, both in politics and in everyday life. In fact Cuba had a reputation of being the "brothel of the United States," a place where Americans could find all sorts of licit and illicit pleasures, provided they had the cash. Despite having the socially advanced constitution of 1940, Cuba was plagued with corruption and the interruption of constitutional rule by autocrats like Batista. Batista began his final turn as the head of the government in a 1952 coup. The coalition that formed under the revolutionaries hoped to restore the constitution, reestablish a democratic state and free Cuba from the American influence. The revolutionaries succeeded in toppling Batista on January 1, 1959. Castro, who initially declared himself as a non-socialist, initiated a program of agrarian reforms and nationalizations in May 1959, which alienated the Eisenhower administration (1953–61) and resulted in the United States breaking of diplomatic relations, freezing Cuban assets in the United States and placing an embargo on the nation in 1960. The Kennedy administration (1961–1963) authorised the funding and support of an invasion of Cuba by exiles. The invasion failed and radicalised the revolutionary government's position. Cuba officially proclaimed itself socialist and openly became an ally of the Soviet Union. The military collaboration between Cuba and the Soviet Union, which included the placement of intercontinental ballistic missiles in Cuba precipitated the Cuban Missile Crisis of October 1962.

Late 20th century military regimes and revolutions

By the 1970s, leftists had acquired a significant political influence which prompted the right-wing, ecclesiastical authorities and a large portion of each individual country's upper class to support coups d'état to avoid what they perceived as a communist threat. This was further fueled by Cuban and United States intervention which led to a political polarisation. Most South American countries were in some periods ruled by military dictatorships that were supported by the United States of America.

Also around the 1970s, the regimes of the

Colombia has had an ongoing, though diminished internal conflict, which started in 1964 with the creation of Marxist guerrillas (FARC-EP) and then involved several illegal armed groups of leftist-leaning ideology as well as the private armies of powerful drug lords. Many of these are now defunct, and only a small portion of the ELN remains, along with the stronger, though also greatly reduced FARC. These leftist groups smuggle narcotics out of Colombia to fund their operations, while also using kidnapping, bombings, land mines and assassinations as weapons against both elected and non-elected citizens.

Revolutionary movements and right-wing military dictatorships became common after World War II, but since the 1980s, a wave of democratisation came through the continent, and democratic rule is widespread now.^[157] Nonetheless, allegations of corruption are still very common, and several countries have developed crises which have forced the resignation of their governments, although, in most occasions, regular civilian succession has continued.

In the 1960s and 1970s, the governments of Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay were overthrown or displaced by U.S.-aligned

The term 'pink tide' (

• 1998: Hugo Chávez, Venezuela^[161]
• 1999: Ricardo Lagos, Chile^[162][163]
• 2002: Luís Inácio Lula da Silva, Brazil^{[164][165][166][167]}
• 2002: Lucio Gutiérrez, Ecuador^[168][169]
• 2003: Néstor Kirchner, Argentina^{[170][171][172]}
• 2004: Tabaré Vázquez, Uruguay^{[173][174][175]}
• 2005: Evo Morales, Bolivia^{[176][a][185]}
• 2006: Michelle Bachelet, Chile^[186][187]
• 2006: Rafael Correa, Ecuador^{[188][189][190][191]}
• 2007: Cristina Kirchner, Argentina^{[192][193][194][note 12][197][198][199][200][201][202][203][204]}
• 2008: Fernando Lugo, Paraguay^{[205][206][207]}
• 2009: José Mujica, Uruguay^{[208][209][210][211]}
• 2010: Dilma Rousseff, Brazil^{[212][213][214]}
• 2011: Ollanta Humala, Peru^{[215][216][217][218][219]}
• 2013: Nicolás Maduro, Venezuela^{[220][221][222][223]}

In 2008, the Union of South American Nations (USAN) was founded, revealing South American ambition of economic integration, with plans for political integration in the European Union style.^{[citation needed]} This was seen by American political commentators as a pivotal moment in the loss of U.S. hegemony in the region.^[224] According to Noam Chomsky, USAN represents that "for the first time since the European conquest, Latin America began to move towards integration".^{[225][226][227][228][229][230][231][232]}

Timeline of military dictatorships in South America

Wikimedia Commons has media related to History of South Ameria.

Attribution

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "South America". Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
• This article, the History of South America incorporates text from the following Wikipedia articles:

Pre-Columbian savannas of North America, Slavery in Brazil, South America & Treaty of Tordesillas (in Portuguese), (in Spanish) & (in English) versions, as of 22 April 2016^[update]

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "South America". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company.

Footnotes

Notes